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“Guard Against a Hard Heart” (Mark 3:1-6

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I. Introduction. A. Orientation. 1. Last time we saw Jesus defend His disciples – against the accusations of the Pharisees – when they picked grain and ate it on the Sabbath. a. Yes, they broke the Sabbath – in that they did some work. b. But they weren’t guilty. (i) They were traveling. (ii) This was their only source of food. (iii) And it was necessary to preserve their lives. 2. Jesus isn’t saying here that you may break the Sabbath for any reason. a. You do need to keep the Sabbath Day – the Lord’s Day – holy, by resting from your work and worshiping the Lord. b. But you may break the Sabbath and not be guilty if there is something you must do to protect your life. c. He wants you to know the Sabbath was made for you, not you for the Sabbath. B. Preview. 1. The next thing we see is Jesus heal a man on the Sabbath. a. Jesus went on now to the synagogue, not only because He desired to worship His Father according to the Law, but because He had a divine appointment. b. There He found a man with a withered hand – a man who needed the Lord’s mercy and grace. But there was a problem: (i) The Pharisees were watching Him to see if He would heal the man, so that they might condemn Him. (ii) Knowing this, Jesus healed the man anyway. 2. Why did He do this? a. First, He wanted to show you more about the Sabbath. (i) Even though the day is set apart for physical and spiritual rest and to remind you that you are only passing through this world to the next, you may break that rest if mercy demands it. (ii) You may not only show mercy to yourself, but also to others. (iii) It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. b. But the Spirit of God, by including this account in Scripture, also intended this as a warning to you not to have a hard heart or to let your heart grow hard. (i) Consider the Pharisees. (a) They were watching Him only to catch Him in some fault.

2 (b) Jesus tried to reason with them, but they wouldn’t listen. (c) And when He performed a miracle to show He was in fact from God, they hated Him even more. (d) Their hearts were hard towards the Lord. (e) He warns you against the same. (ii) This morning, let’s consider two things: (a) The signs of a hard heart. (b) How to soften a hard heart. II. Sermon. A. First, what are the signs of a hard heart? Here we have three: 1) Fault-finding, 2) An unreasonable spirit, and 3) Eyes that are blind to anything good. 1. Note first, their attitude towards Jesus. a. “They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him” (v. 2). (i) They weren’t looking to see whether or not He was the Messiah. (ii) They were watching only to see if He would do something they might use to accuse Him. b. The first sign that you have a hard heart towards the Lord is that you want to find something wrong with Him. (i) You know how it is when you have a falling out with someone else: (a) You look for something they’re doing that’s wrong. (b) You try to grab onto anything to use as ammunition against them. (ii) The same thing can be true of you towards Jesus. (a) When you see things about Him you don’t like. (b) When you use the things that happen in your life – the things you don’t like – to accuse Him. (c) That is the sign that your heart is hard towards Jesus. 2. Notice, second, they had an unreasonable spirit. a. “He said to the man with the withered hand, ‘Get up and come forward!’ And He said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?’ But they kept silent” (vv. 3-4). (i) Jesus knew what they were thinking, and so He tried to reason with them. (a) Are you not still bound to do good on the Sabbath? (b) “If a man’s life is in danger, shouldn’t you save him?” (ii) They knew He was right, but they couldn’t admit it to themselves or to Him, and so they kept silent. b. The second sign of a hard heart is an unreasonable spirit.

3 (i) You know from your own experience when you’re angry with someone, you don’t feel very much like agreeing with them – even when you know they’re right. (ii) The same thing can be true of you towards Jesus. (a) You know what He says is right, that He speaks the truth. (b) But you can’t bring yourself to admit it. (c) This is further evidence that your heart is hard toward God. 3. And notice third, that their eyes were blinded to anything good Jesus did or could have done. a. “After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him” (vv. 5-6). (i) Jesus healed a man with a withered hand – He gave him back the ability to work, to take care of his own needs and those of his family – He showed mercy to the man. (ii) But instead of praising Jesus for His compassion – instead of acknowledging this miracle as irrefutable evidence that He is the Messiah – they immediately left to begin plotting with the Herodians how they might kill Him. b. The third sign of a hard heart is that you are blinded to anything good in Jesus. (i) When you’re at odds with someone, they can’t do anything right in your sight. (a) All you can see is the bad - nothing they do will measure up. (b) They could go out of their way to show you love and kindness by doing nice things for you, but you’ll never see it or acknowledge it. (ii) The same thing can be true of you towards the Lord. (a) The Lord is good and does good, and His acts of mercy and kindness are over all His works. (b) Everyday He shows you His mercy – gives you food and drink, air to breathe, clothes to wear, people to love and to be loved by. (c) But when you can’t find it in your heart to acknowledge His kindness, but instead you complain about what you should have but don’t, that’s the sign of a hard heart. (d) Fault finding, an unreasonable attitude and eyes that are blind to any good, these are all signs that you have a hard heart. B. How can you overcome your hard heart? 1. First, you need to realize where the problem originates: with sin. a. You had a hard heart when you came into this world because of sin.

4 b. Adam’s disobedience in the Garden drove the Spirit of love away – he lost the Spirit not only for himself, but also for you and all mankind. c. Your disobedience only made matters worse – every sin you’ve committed has hardened your heart even more. 2. Second, you need to see that the only thing that can break your hard heart is the Lord’s love. a. The problem with your hard heart is ultimately a lack of love. (i) When your love for someone is strong, all you see is the good. (a) Whatever bad they do doesn’t register. (b) Just as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13, “Love is patient, love is kind . . . is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered . . . bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (vv. 4-8). (c) Love for the Lord is different in that it allows you to see and acknowledge the good – the perfection – that is already in Him. (ii) Only a very strong love can soften a hard heart: (a) It can give you the strength to love anyone – to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Peter writes, “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8). (b) It can empower you to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and to be reconciled to God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (c) It will give you the ability easily to keep all of the Lord’s commandments, because that is what you will want to do (1 John) – it will make your marriage endure a lifetime, give you patience to raise your children, and secure all your friendships. (d) Love is all you need. b. How can you get this love? (i) You can only receive it through Jesus Christ. (a) He did the work He did to receive the Spirit. (b) He’s the only One with the authority to give you His Spirit. (c) He’s the only One who can turn your heart of stone into a heart of flesh. (1) The Lord says through Jeremiah the prophet, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good who are accustomed to doing evil” (13:23). (2) What you can’t do, the Lord can, and so you must look to Him for this love that will break your stony heart and give you the power to repent and believe. (3) If you’ve never done this, that’s where you need to begin. (4) Ask Him to give you a new heart – He can and will if you will come to Him humbly and ask Him sincerely.

5 (ii) If you’re a true believer struggling with hardness of heart, then use the means the Lord has given to grant you more of the Spirit to soften your heart with His love. (a) Pray for more of His Spirit. (b) Continue seeking Him until your heart is full. (c) And then be careful to keep your grace strong by walking with Him. (d) May the Lord help us all to do so. Amen. http://www.graceopcmodesto.org